It is the story of a girl named Dinah, briefly mentioned twice in Genesis 32-34. Half-sister to Joseph, grand-daughter of Isaac. She is the daughter raped by Shechem, the king's son. This event incites her brothers to kill the king, and every male in the town. Dinah is said to have been carried from the town, but she is not heard from again in the bible. In the Diamant's interpretation, this is a love story, and she escapes with her mother-in-law. That I don't really have a problem with, I do however have a problem with is the red tent and what it represents. The women who raise her are clinging to older pagan gods, and not the embracing the god of their husband Jacob. I have a hard time believing that a religious fanatic, the man named Israel would allow the women he is married to to worship gods other than his own. The author claims to be practicing "midrash" however I believe the fault lies in the fact that while she may have examined the practices and daily life of the women of this era, she did not examine them in the context of who these specific women were married to.
Dinah has a tough life, but I don't think it even comes close to representing the life that an unmarried woman would have. There is beauty and peace and love and worship of the female as life-giver where in reality they were considered little more than property. The cynic in me saw this 'beautiful' interpretation in the same light as reincarnation stories. A seer will rarely tell you that you were a lowly maid, your history is more likely to be one of royalty and influence. While women around here were raped and beaten and carried off as the spoils of war, she was pampered and protected.
As a book describing strong, vibrant women, and the beauty of the connectedness that mothers and daughters can have it can be rivetting. As any form of insight into a woman's life in early biblical times, I'm highly skeptical.